This case has so many twists and turns, but is very close to being solved. I put together a blog posts with links to my research, screenshots, network, and full timeline.
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Part I. The Backstory
The disappearance of Ashley Morris Mullis remains a mystery, despite recent leads in the case. Ashley was last seen in mid September 2013 and is presumed murdered, with multiple persons of interest named in her case according to an affidavit recently filed by the Delaware County Sheriff's Office. .
Ashley Elaine Morris was born March 1, 1986 to Donald Edward Morris and Leandra Partin. Ashley would remain their only daughter. Donald and Leandra exchanged wedding vows just two weeks later, on March 17, 1986, and celebrate their anniversary every St. Patrick's Day together.
Ashley grew up in Muncie, IN, with her parents, Don and Leandra Morris, and her two younger brothers, Donald Edward Morris, Jr (1987), and Aaron Kyle Morris (1989). Ashley remained in Muncie throughout her life.
Ashley and Justin Mullis
In 2008, Ashley gave birth to her first son, Ashtin, whose name is tattooed on Ashley's upper left arm. Ashtin's father, Justin Mullis, married Ashley on July 10, 2010. Together, they had a second son, whom they named Tanner, born in 2010. Ashley and Justin lived a seemingly normal, happy life. The last pictures posted on social media of them as a family were posted in early 2012.
In 2012, Ashley and Justin were experiencing marital difficulties, which led to them moving into separate residences, legally separating, and establishing custody arrangements. That same year, after experiencing trouble with her vehicle transmission, Ashley was introduced to Daniel York, the owner of American Muffler. The two hit it off and began a long-term sexual affair, despite Daniel York being married. The unlikely pair did not appear to have much in common, with Dan York being more than twice Ashley's age, and ten years older than Ashley's father Don Morris. Dan York had a reputation for dating young girls, and had been suspected in the disappearance of at least one of his previous girlfriends, whose body was discovered in the 2011 Budget Inn Motel fire. Daniel had paid for the room.
As their relationship progressed, Daniel and Ashley's lives intertwined more. Ashley lived in a rental property owned by Daniel York and his wife Sheila, located at 1812 E Delta Drive in Muncie, IN. It is alleged that Dan gave Ashley the money to pay rent each month, which his wife Sheila came by to collect. In addition to the rental property that Ashley lived in, Dan also provided Ashley with a van to drive. It is widely accepted that Sheila was unaware of the affair between Daniel York and Ashley Mullis. Shortly before her disappearance, Ashley told friends and family that she was going to confess to Sheila about the affair and her daughter Abigail.
March 1, 2013, Ashley Mullis gave birth to a beautiful daughter, Abigail Marie York, whose name has since been changed. In many of the family's communication, Abby's name is spelled Abagail, but on court proceedings, her name is listed as Abigail. A birth certificate for Abigail, which was issued on October 14, 2013, listed Daniel Lee York as the father of Abigail, however it is clear that paternity had not been established at that time, or at any time while Daniel York was alive..
Ashley's Disappearance
The events between September 2013 and October 2013 are extremely convoluted and shocking. Don and Leandra Morris, Justin Mullis, and Ashley's brothers were all attempting to reach her. It was extremely out of character for Ashley to not respond to or reach out to her family. Prior to her disappearance, she spoke to her brother every day on the phone. Before Ashley disappeared, she dropped Ashtin and Tanner off at their father, Justin Mullis' house, after tension arose with Daniel York regarding Ashley's two sons.
The following is a timeline that has been gathered from multiple news sources, legal documents, and social media posts.
- March 1: Abagail Mullis is born to Daniel York and Ashley Morris Mullis (another place in the affidavit states March 25 as DOB) at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie. Daniel York would not allow Don or Leandra Morris to see Abigail or visit at hospital.
- September 16: last time Leandra Morris saw Ashley and Abagail
- September 18: Ashley visited a business establishment with Daniel York
- Ashley’s cousin-in-law states she spoke with Ashley
- September 19: Last visit between Ashley, Abagail, and Don
- Last phone calls to/from Ashley’s phone
- Ashley was upset that Dan York had taken her RX, Don told her to call the police
- Ashley had purchased piggy banks to resell and brought those to her parents house
- Unverified claim that Ashley was seen in Muncie getting her nails done
- September 22 or 23: Morris family reunion
- Last picture of Ashley
- Don and Leandra were not able to attend the event because Don had to work
- October 13: Neighbor reported a white box truck at Ashley’s residence at 1:30AM moving two loads out of the house, one from the garage and the other from the side of the house - license plates were registered to Sheila York
- October 14: Birth certificate was issued, Daniel’s name was added
- October 16: Donald and Leandra Morris reported Ashley missing
- November: Justin Mullis goes to court for emergency custody hearing to be named sole custodial parent of Ashtin and Tanner. Abigail was not named in the petition.
- November 15: warrant executed on Ashley’s home at 1812 E Delta Dr., Muncie, IN - all belongings were gone
The Botched Investigation and Cover Up
It took two weeks for the Delaware County Sheriff's Office to file the paperwork and list Ashley as a Missing Person. Sheriff Michael Scroggins is said to be cousins with Dan York. Daniel and Sheila claimed to police investigators and the Morris family that they had given Ashley $15K, she signed over parental rights to Daniel York, and moved away. The Morris family does not believe that Ashley would willingly walk away from her three children.
A neighbor witnessed a white box truck backed up to Ashley's door removing things at 1:30 AM on October 13, 2013. The box truck was registered to Sheila York. Ashley's home was searched in November 2013, two months after her disappearance. All of Ashley's belongings had been removed from the house. Early in 2014, Daniel and Sheila York's daughter moved into the house located at 1812 E Delta Dr. Ashley's family continued to search for her by following up every lead and constantly providing information to law enforcement. They also pushed Ashley's case forward with the local and national media for more than ten years as they fought for justice for Ashley and the return of their granddaughter.
The case picked up steam in 2015, a year that brought many tragedies to the people surrounding the York family. In January, Daniel and Sheila York's oldest son, Daniel York Jr, died at the ages of 36. He had a cardiac arrest, and had large quantities of narcotics and alcohol in his system. Before he died, he allegedly confessed his involvement in the removal of Ashley's belongings from the house to multiple witnesses. He also named his sister Sarah Elissa York and Michael David Watt as being present and involved in the removal of Ashley's belongings from the Delta Drive address.
Moving to Florida
In May 2015, Daniel and Sheila deeded their Delta Drive property to the name Louise Fultz, Sheila York's alias, and the name of her deceased mother. They used an address in New Castle that belonged to her 93 year old father, Bill Fultz for all of the deed paperwork.
In addition to the death of Daniel York Jr in 2015, Sheriff Michael Scroggins, Dan York's cousin, died unexpectedly in Cleveland, OH on May 15.
In August 2015, Daniel and Sheila York moved to Sarasota, FL, taking Abigail with them. They immediately began filing adoption paperwork in the state of Florida, with numerous fraudulent claims. The address they used as their physical address was a rented mailbox at a UPS store located at 13435 S McCall Rd, Unit 16, Port Charlotte, FL. On August 28, Justin Mullis filed a paternity suit against Daniel York to establish paternity of Abigail. On the same day, August 28, 2015, Don and Leandra Morris filed the first suit for grandparents visitation.
On September 15, 2015, Daniel Lee York Sr died from a heart attack at the Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, FL. His DNA was collected for paternity.
The following is a timeline of events that happened between August and December 2015.
- August 15: Daniel York and Sheila York move to Sarasota, FL with Abagail, they list their address as 13435 S McCall Rd, Unit 16, Port Charlotte, FL - a rented mailbox at the UPS store.
- August 28: Justin filed paternity suit against Dan
- August 28: Don and Leandra filed first visitation suit
- September 15: Daniel York Sr dies from a heart attack in Sarasota, FL at Sarasota Memorial Hospital
- September 15: DNA taken from Daniel York Sr after he died
- September 16: Sheila obtained a Florida Driver’s License
- September 18: Sample collected from Abagail for DNA
- September 23: Attorney Jill Gonzalez filed appearance to represent Daniel York Sr and a request for continuance - allegedly knowing he died the week before
- October 7: Transfer of jurisdiction - new Judge Linda Ralu Wolfe took over case
- October 20: Jill Gonzalez filed motion for continuance of the November 10 hearing
- November 15: Abagail’s adoption formally filed
- November 25: Case was dismissed for paternity determination after the results were presented by Jill Gonzalez
- November 25: Case was dismissed after announcement that Daniel York had died
- November 30: Laurie Ann Adkins, Sheila’s daughter, signed a swearing and affirming affidavit regarding Abagail
- December 16: Death certificate for Dan York issued #2015138602
- January 13, 2016: Sheila started receiving payments form the Social Security Administration that are being investigated
- February 18, 2016: Avila Family Law Office filed paperwork to terminate Ashley's parental rights pending intra-family adoption
Sheila York was granted her petition to adopt Abigail and change her name on August 1 in Florida. Abigail's new name will not be disclosed in this article to protect her privacy.
Sheila's Story Unravels
The Delaware County Sheriff's office claims to have followed all leads that have come in since 2013, however, the case began to pick up momentum in 2019 when Detective John Branson took over the case. In October 2022, the Sheriff's office became aware of the fraudulent claims Sheila York made to get the adoption to go through in Florida.
On January 11, 2023, an affidavit was filed by Detective John Brunson of the Delaware County Sheriff's Office. The affidavit states that Ashley is presumed murdered. It lists Daniel York Jr and Sarah Elissa York as conspirators. Other claims that are made in the affidavit that bring the case together and renew hopes for justice for Ashley and Abigail.
- Ashley and Justin were estranged, with minimal contact after Justin found out about Ashley's affair with Dan York.
- Sheila went to the Delta Dr. address to collect rent, where she played with Abigail on more than one occasion, not knowing Abigail was Dan's biological daughter with Ashley.
- On September 23, 2015, Attorney Jill Gonzalez filed her appearance to represent Dan in the paternity suit. It is presumed that Jill Gonzalez was fully aware that Dan York was deceased.
- The York's planned to have someone act like they were Dan York in a phone hearing, claiming that Dan needed heart surgery and could not travel back to Indiana for the trial.
- Sheila did not obtain a Florida driver's license until the day after Dan died.
- Sheila lied multiple times on the adoption paperwork, including address to establish Florida residency, lied about Ashley's whereabouts, lied about Abigail having living relatives, and lied about other litigation.
- On December 6, Detective Branson received copies of the adoption, and charges were filed a month later.
The case is currently moving forward rapidly. On January 13, 2023, Case #18C04-2301-F5-000011 with Delaware County Court 4 with a Felony 5 change for kidnapping and obstruction of justice. Sheila York was arrested in February 2023 in Asheville, NC. Despite the Delaware County Judge ordering Sheila to be extradited to Indiana, she was released on bond in North Carolina, where someone put up $10K cash to get her out of jail. Delaware County is committed to having her extradited. Abigail has been placed in CPS care.
Don Morris and Macinda Abbott have petitioned
